Accounting and bookkeeping functions play a crucial role in the success of any business. However, many entrepreneurs and managers often overlook them to prioritise sales and growth. This eventually leads to faulty tax computations resulting in costly penalties.

Plus, it’s hard to know the actual status of the business when financial records aren’t kept updated. For instance, you might assume your company is profitable but it’s long been in the red. So you keep making risky investments that further deplete your accounts and affect your business credit score.

When you’re struggling to focus on your finance-related tasks, outsource to an accounting virtual assistant instead. This will free up your time to do other assignments, learn where you can cut costs safely, and even reduce the chances of fraud.

What Tasks Can I Assign to an Accounting VA?

Preparing financial statements

These documents contain crucial data about your company’s financial health. They show which areas of the business have the highest returns so you can make informed decisions. Annual financial reports are required by the government for auditing as well.

Reconciling credit card and bank accounts

This means to reconcile the monthly statements with the general ledger of accounts regularly. Through this, you can rest assured that only authorised transactions are being made. You can also optimise your profits while reducing overhead costs.

Organising receipts into the system

Rather than stuffing all business receipts into a folder or drawer, it’s better to input them into a system so it’s easier to cross-check with the books. It prepares items for filing tax returns, tracks expenses and identifies income sources more conveniently too.

Implementing record-keeping procedures

If there aren’t any accounting procedures in place yet, you can ask your accounting remote virtual assistant to set them up for you. They can suggest efficient methods for computing remote IT staffing employee salaries, calculating project expenditures, and more.

Building up and updating databases

When your business is using a payroll or accounting software but you don’t know how to use it or fill up the database, the accounting VA in the Philippines will handle that. They will see to it that all necessary data will be added into the system and have the information organised properly.

Drawing up quarterly and yearly estimates

These periodic reports tell you if the business has enough working capital to keep running and discuss how to address any shortage. Plus, it lets you review expenditures made on the budget allocated for each department or project, and check if there are any unusual variances.

Performing periodic inventory analysis

This means examining the inventory to determine the right amount to keep on hand. It’s useful when your company handles physical products, such as a retail store or an e-commerce shop. Inventory analysis reduces the turnaround time for order fulfilment while considering product obsolescence.

Keeping tax records accurate

The law allows deductions for items like charitable donations and legitimate business expenses. However, there has to be adequate records to support them. Records that are missing or incomplete will lead to penalties, interest and additional taxes.

Preparing documents for compliance

Apart from tax records, you’ll have to submit papers to the authorities for processing. Finding out what these documents are and preparing them for inspection is best left in the hands of a reliable virtual assistant offshore specialising in accounting.

Fulfilling any profit-sharing plans

A profit-sharing plan gives employees a share in the quarterly or annual earnings of the business. It may also provide workers the opportunity to buy shares in the future. This helps boost morale, although it entails additional calculations that the accounting VA can handle.

Computing the employee payroll

Calculating the salaries of your offshore assistant employees is more complicated than you think. There are various factors to consider, like tax deductions, superannuation, absences, tardiness, holiday pay and more. You’ll need an IT staffing in the Philippines accounting VA to take them all into account during every pay period.

Giving business financial advice

Most of the time, only certified public accountants can qualify as an accounting virtual assistant. These are people who have both foundational knowledge and experience in managing business accounts so they can provide sound advice on making investments and more.

Managing accounts payable

Accounts payable management is valuable to any company. It makes sure that you’re paying your bills on time, which helps establish a long-term relationship with vendors while strengthening your credit score. At the same time, there’s guaranteed uninterrupted flow of services and supplies.

Handling accounts receivables

Involving more than just reminding customers to pay their dues, accounts receivables management improves cash flow and higher available liquidity to be used in acquisitions or investments. With this in place, you can maintain good customer relations while monitoring potential credit risks.

Tracking any fixed assets

When your business owns a large amount of physical assets, be it vehicles or computers, it’s essential to keep track of them and see that they’re in good working order. Fixed asset management not only minimises downtime but also boosts the lifetime value of assets.

Acting as financial controller

Do you already have a virtual assistant in the Philippines accounting team yet believe that they can do better? A virtual assistant specialising in bookkeeping can review the current workflow and determine which areas need improvement. They can also train up those in your finance team and equip them with new skills.

Apart from the tasks discussed above, an accounting virtual assistant can tackle other finance-related tasks specific to your business or industry.

Where Can I Find an Accounting Virtual Assistant?

We at Remote Workmate can help you in hiring the perfect VA for your needs. We’ll ask about what your company requires for the bookkeeping role and handle the recruitment process so you won’t have to. We’ll then take care of the screening and interviewing before we endorse them to you.